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Astronaut and the U.S. flag on the surface of the Moon, photographed during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 12: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) looks at the basket board during warms up before their NBA game against the Toronto Raptors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

The Earth as photographed from the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

An astronaut’s boot print on the surface of the Moon, photographed during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) looks down as the Warriors lose to the Toronto Raptors during the third quarter of a NBA game at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2017. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Lunar lander photographed as it jettisoned to the Moon’s surface (NASA)

The Earth as photographed from the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin poses for a portrait on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

And now for something completely foreseeable. The Warriors’ Stephen Curry on Wednesday delivered the inevitable rim shot to the whole fake-moon-landing kerfuffle, telling ESPN, “Obviously I was joking when I was talking on the podcast. (Then) I was silently protesting how stupid it was that people actually took that quote and made it law as, […]

Astronaut on the surface of the Moon, photographed during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

Astronaut climbing the steps of the lunar lander on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

Detail shot of the lunar lander used during the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

The Saturn V rocket astronauts took to the moon launched the Apollo 11 mission on July 16, 1969. (NASA)

The Warriors’ Stephen Curry on Wednesday delivered the inevitable rim shot to the whole fake-moon-landing kerfuffle, telling ESPN, “Obviously I was joking when I was talking on the podcast. (Then) I was silently protesting how stupid it was that people actually took that quote and made it law as, ‘Oh my God, he’s a fake-moon-landing truther,’ whatever you want to call it yada, yada, yada.”

Because it sucks to be late to the party, here is what he said on the infamous podcast:

“We took someone to the moon? I don’t think so.”

I mean, how much more proof do you need?

“(While) I was silently protesting,” Curry said, “the story took a life of its own.”

To say the least. Curry’s words circled the globe in less time than it took the InSight Mars lander to send earthbound scientists a message saying, “Wish you were here.”

Hearing Curry’s comments, leprechauns rioted in Belfast. Unicorns stampeded across the Serengeti Desert. Paul McCartney rose from the dead. Amelia Earhart paid a visit to the eternal flame at JFK’s grave. Darth Vader announced he wasn’t Luke Skywalker’s father after all.

NASA checked in — for real — inviting Curry to tour the Johnson Space Center the next time the Warriors are in Houston.

“I am definitely going to take them up on their offer,” Curry said. “I am going to educate myself firsthand on everything that NASA has done and shine a light on their tremendous work over the years. And hopefully people understand that education is power, informing yourself is power.”

He might want to educate the Daily Mail, which, in its coverage of Curry’s folly, reported that “in 1967, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to land on the moon.”

Fact check: It was 1969. But wait, weren’t the ’60s just a mirage?

“For kids out there that hang on every word that we say,” Curry said, “understand that you should not believe something just because somebody says it. You should do your homework and understand what you actually believe.”

Gary Peterson is a sports writer for the Bay Area News Group. His prior assignments included 31 years as a sports columnist, serving as a general assignment news reporter, covering courts and writing a metro column before finding his way back to sports.